6 Keyword Research Mistakes You Must Avoid
Keyword research is the most important but an under-appreciated aspect of SEO and may be that’s why few mistakes are often ignored during the keyword research process. Being the blueprint of any successful SEO campaign, Keyword research should be an error free activity.
Here are some of the common mistakes people make during the process of keyword research:
Mistake #1: Setting unrealistic goals
Something is better than nothing – always!
Keyword research seems to be a very clear-cut task. Use a research tool and find industry specific keywords that have highest search volumes. Well, sadly it is not as easy as it may seem. If you really want to see “real” results, target the keywords with medium competition that take into account the age of the website, current authority and any optimization that will take place in future. Targeting one word keyword or very competitive keywords are often unrealistic and can be unprofitable. A good keyword research is when you are realistic and select appropriate keywords. Less competitive keywords are a best way to do it.
Mistake #2: You think broad match is better than exact match
A mistake that is simple but yet people continue to make…Of course, search volume is a major metric in keyword research process but a large number of SEOs make the mistake of looking at broad search volumes rather than the exact match, which of course has a huge difference. Instead, using exact match will give you the best data accessible when assessing how feasible a keyword is to target.
Mistake #3 – Targeting Plural keyword phrases instead of singular
Often it is seen that people are targeting the plural version of a keyword but in various cases the singular version of the keyword is searched. Of course, the company sells more than one product but that does not mean you should naturally focus on the pluralized keywords as they get 90-91% less searches as compared to singular products.
Mistake #4- Ignoring Conversion
A lot of times it happens that clients want to focus on a certain keyword when in actual fact they’d perform better financially targeting a different keyword or set of keywords. To get maximum benefit, a site needs conversions along with high traffic. This makes conversion and an important part of keyword research. Use keywords that will provide more conversions along with the traffic.
Mistake #5 –Out of Context Keyword Selection
To get more conversions, make sure to humanize the keyword research process. For example if a searcher is looking for ‘car’, he could be looking for a new car or used car or car for sales. Use a complete keyword phrase instead of writing a word and humanize it for better traffic and further conversions.
Mistake #6 – Not Conducting Keyword Reviews
SEO is an on-going process but keywords are rarely reviewed and audited. In a marketplace that is shifting overtime, it is obvious that customer behavior is developing and evolving too, which makes regular keyword view essential.
The aim of a keyword review is to:
- Dig out under performing keywords
- Discover opportunities and areas for development
- Shape your SEO strategy for the future
Keep yourself updated to avoid repeating the big no-no mistakes in SEO!
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Tags: 6 keyword mistakes, Keyword mistakes, keyword research mistakes, Keyword Research tips, Keyword search tips, SEO Keyword research
Jyoti Mali
Jyoti Mali is the Co-Editor at SEO-SMO.net, as well as an Internet Research Analyst and an aspiring social media marketer. She is having hands on experience in optimizing and promoting the websites on leading search engines and web media. Her passion is to keep updated with what Masters on web like Google, Yahoo, Twitter, Facebook etc. are up to innovate & deliver. At SEO-SMO.net, she aims to be a part of most active online community & most widely read Blogs on the web covering the insights of Next generation SEO and SMO trends that will help in preparing the leaders of tomorrow.
Getting the right key words is difficult in my experience, choosing key words which are used by a lot of larger sites can mean you wont appear anywhere near page 1 but its no use being on page 1 if no one searches with those key words.
Nice post. I am shocked about those mistakes as i have made many of them earlier while doing keyword research. While the point of humanizing the results was never thought by anyone else. Thanks for writing this wonderful post.
To know the value of keyword research, it is also important to know the usual mistakes that we encounter. This is a very informative post that sugggests what to avoid and what to consider for getting the right keyword which is best guide for advance SEO.
I agree with the both of you RJN and Aman, for it is not easier at all to get to use of it in right way. Indeed, it is also important if we use keyword exactly and not misspelled.